1966 John Deere 110 Riding Lawnmower Mystery Tool

[whitenorth]

My brother gave me my Dad's tractor at the end of April which he inherited when my Dad passed back in 2021. A 1966 John Deere 110 Riding Lawnmower. My Dad fabricated a tool that neither my brother or myself can figure out how my Dad used it. See pic below. On the wooden block he has written spring expander for JD mower. The piece bolted on fits nicely around the lever that is used to release tension on the belt going from the tractor to the mower deck but, the handle hits the bottom of the tractor before it releases enough tension to remove the belt. Also, how the wooden block is used is a mystery also as it doesn't look like it has any indentations like it was used as leverage or something. Piece of paper just has hand written instructions on how to install the deck with no mention of the tool. Plus, the last instruction says with front of tractor jacked up.

I've tried everything I could think of except for trying to remove the actual spring on the front axle to the pulley assembly yet. Although, it doesn't seem like it would be used for that but, I've not found exactly how he used it.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[ultrarunner]

Is it to catch and hold a rotary blade?

 

[whitenorth]

Is it to catch and hold a rotary blade?

I guess but, the wooden block has spring expander on the other side. Not sure how attaching it to a blade would expand a spring.

 

[whitenorth]

For more reference. This is the lever I thought it would go to. Does work like I said but, not enough to release enough tension.

 

[RBsingl]

I think he must have built it to release the tension on the belt tension pulley for belt changes/deck maintenance. Could the wood block be inserted to hold the spring in its stretched position once the main tool has released the tension? Probably the deck height position would change how much working space there is for the tool.

The belt tensioner on decks can be a real pain to deal with! I mowed for years with a 72" midmount mower on my Deere 955 tractor and although the parts manual showed grease points for the two idler pulleys, the deck was revised to use permanently sealed bearings at those points when I bought mine in 1995. Deere further revised these idlers over the years. The design of the deck made removing belt tension far more difficult than it should be.

My original set of idler pulleys lasted 10 years before one of the idlers spit out its bearings and the other original went a couple of years later. The deck was revised again after I bought mine and I had to change several parts to use the replacement idlers which turn out to last about 3 years and are expensive so after two sets of Deere idlers I picked up a couple of cheap replacements from Farm and Fleet (about 10% of Deere's pricing and they lasted 6 years before I quit mowing with the Deere). A Kubota F2690 has taken over mowing duties and if I was still using the 955 for finish mowing I would rebuild the original Deere pulleys with quality German made bearings and zerks.

Rodger

 

[whitenorth]

Never thought about the block keeping the tension off so one would not have to hold it while slipping the belt on. I'll have to look into that.

The handle hits the bottom of the tractor though before it pulls the pulleys back far enough to remove the belt easily. Only way you'd get the belts off is to partially pry the belt off and then rotate the pulley to get the belt off completely. Then reverse the process to get it back on. That may be how he was doing it. However, I'd think with taking the belt on or off this way would release some of the pressure off of the block and it'd fall out.

I used a 6x6 and a couple of 2x4 blocks to use a pry bar to lift that lever up and I can get it far enough up that I can pretty much slip the belt on and off without having to rotate the pulleys. However, I do have to keep one hand on the pry bar and run the risk of the pry bar slipping off. Just be sure to keep fingers from getting between belt and pulley. I think the way described above would be safer assuming the block stayed in place when the belt was installed or removed.

 

[whitenorth]

@RBsingl I went out to see if I can figure out how the wood block is used. Still not sure how or if he used it. However, I did take another look at the instructions he wrote and some how I missed step 4 the first time I read it.

 

[ultrarunner]

Note to self write more notes for those left behind.

 

[RBsingl]

Note to self write more notes for those left behind.

I restore vintage amateur radio gear and this equipment often contains undocumented (and BAD) changes from a previous owner. Except in the extremely rare case where changes are documented AND actually well designed/implemented, I take gear back to factory stock as part of restoration.

Rodger

 

[whitenorth]

I understand why my dad made it. He kept all the original manuals and the instructions say to push up on that lever with one hand while putting the belt on/off with the other. I don't know what JD was smoking back then but, there is no way I could move that lever with one hand. Heck I couldn't get it to budge using 2 hands. I used a 6x6, a couple of 2x4s and a pry bar to get the belt off. That was before I found his tool in the parts that I got with it that my dad saved.